Woman With Multiple Sclerosis
Matoula Kastrioti, 46, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, enters the sea with a "Seatrac", a solar-powered device that allows people with kinetic disabilities to enter and get out of the sea autonomously, at a beach in Alepochori, west of Athens July 12, 2013. Founded by a team of Greek scientists in 2008 and covered by European and U.S patent laws, the Seatrac device operates on a fixed-track mechanism which allows up to 30 wheelchairs to be moved in and out of the water a day - all powered by solar energy. In a country with one of the world's longest coastlines and thousands of islands, it has come as a welcome relief for many Greeks, boosting demand each year. Currently, 11 devices operate in Greece and there are plans to expand the network. Picture taken July 12, 2013. Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

For a number of years, researchers have been trying to figure out a promising treatment option for multiple sclerosis (MS). Recently conducted clinical trial for Roche's new drug suggest that a reliable treatment option for late-stage MS patients could be just around the corner.

Roche Holding AG’s Genentech unit recently claimed that its new drug dubbed “Ocrelizumab” has proved to be effective against the treatment of MS in the three-phase clinical trial. The company believes that the successful trials could pave way for a new, revolutionary treatment for MS.

According to Genetech, Ocrelizumab reduces the chances of annual MS relapse by almost 50 percent, as compared to its older counterpart called interferon beta-1a (Rebif). Genetech's chief medical officer Sandra Horning says that the drug is first of its own kind to reduce the progression of disability in people with relapsing and primary form of MS.

In the first two major studies involving 1,656 patients with relapsing MS, the trial found that Ocrelizumab significantly reduced annual rate of relapse of major symptoms and other markers associated with the disease. The third stage study, which involved 732 patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis, the drug successfully slowed down the progression of disability as compared to a placebo.

Roche and Genentech are planning to submit the data associated with the study to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by early 2016. If the companies get regulatory approval, the drug could hit the market as early as 2017.

MS affects nearly 2.3 million people in the world. In this disease, body's own immune patients attack the protective sheath that coat the nerve fibres. As a result, transmission of signals between the brain and the spinal cord is disrupted.

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